Online electricity bill payment system launched in Gangtok

Queuing up to pay electricity bills is a thing of the past in Gangtok now.

Consumers in the Sikkim capital can now pay power bills online through the energy and power department website.

The facility was launched by power minister D.D. Bhutia today.

The superintendent engineer of the department, Sunil Rai, said: "It
is for the first time that such a facility has been introduced in a
department under the Sikkim government. It is a tool of consumer
empowerment and the most convenient method of making payments. The
facility is applicable to only those consumers whose bills are issued by
the head office of the power department. There are about 14,000
consumers who can use it."

He said the facility would be operational from today.

One can visit the website, www.powerdepartmentsikkim.com,
register by using an ID - the nine digit contract account number
mentioned in the bill - and a password. A registered consumer can log in
with the details, view the monthly bill and make the payment. One can
use net banking, debit and credit cards of all banks to pay the bills
through the website. The transactions would be free of cost.

Earlier, a consumer had to pay the bills through the State Bank of Sikkim.

The project is worth Rs 11.63 crore and has been designed by Wipro,
executed by Tata Consultancy Services and facilitated by the state
information technology department, Rai said.

"People should benefit from the new facility. The officials should
ensure that consumers face no problems in using the portal," minister
Bhutia said today.